News Release

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News Release

During the Pentagon press briefing yesterday, I stated that the LOVE BUG virus had not infected any Defense Department classified computer system. Unfortunately, my statement was based on incomplete information.

At 9:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, one DoD agency reported to the Joint Task Force on Computer Network Defense that the LOVE BUG had contaminated a classified internal e-mail system. I was not informed of that report until this morning.

According to the agency the virus contaminated less than one percent of that network. Technicians isolated that system in order to clean it of the virus. The agency says that the incident had no impact on its mission.

In addition, the Joint Task Force on Computer Network Defense reported this morning that one other classified system was infected by the LOVE BUG. The virus was quickly detected and contained.

This afternoon another DoD agency reported that two of its classified e-mail systems had been infected by the LOVE BUG. The virus was quickly detected and isolated.

Despite these episodes, the Joint Task Force on Computer Network Defense says that it has received no reports that the virus had an impact on military operations.

Because of protections built into classified computer systems, the impact of the virus was minimal. The Joint Task Force on Computer Network Defense is investigating how the virus entered the classified systems.